Presidential aspirant Senator Christopher “Bong” Go said he fully supports efforts to restore the original proposed budget of the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC) saying sufficient funding would help sustain the humanitarian and development projects in conflict-affected areas.

Go, the Duterte administration’s presidential bet, noted that the government’s anti-insurgency task force was initially allocated P28.12-billion or about P9 billion higher than what it received in 2021, under the proposed National Expenditure Program (NEP) for 2022.

But the proposed budget of the NTF-ELCAC was slashed to a mere P4-billion by the Senate during the budget deliberations.

The senator reiterated that the projects which aim to reduce poverty and promote sustainable development are encouraging more communities to particpate in the counter-insugency efforts of the government.

“Ako, (full) support ako na i-restore ‘yung budget ng NTF-ELCAC dahil nakakaengganyo ito halimbawa ng barangay na gusto namang umunlad ang lugar nila (I fully support the restoration of the budget of the NTF-ELCAC because it encourages communities that wants to improve their jurisdiction),” Go said in an interview in General Santos City on Monday.

“Kadalasan kasi ‘yung mga conflict areas, ‘yung napapasok ng mga komunista ay ‘yung mga barangay na hindi talaga maunlad (Most of the time, barangays in conflict areas that are penetrated by communists have no development project,” he pointed out.

“Ngayon, naeengganyo silang tumulong na i-clear ‘yung mga barangay nila para umunlad sila. Insentibo ito para tumulong sila sa gobyerno at wala namang masama doon (Now they are excited tohelp in clearing their communities of insurgency so they can thrive),” the senator added.

Recalling his own experiences in Davao city, Go stressed the need for such government programs, services and support to address the root causes of conflict and give former rebels an opportunity to be reintegrated into society.

Likewise, the lawmaker reiterated his commitment to support programs and projects that would nurture a climate conducive to the implementation of reconciliation and reintegration activities.

"Kung maaari mag-usap, pag-usapan, ‘wag magpatayan. Sino ba namang Pilipino ang gustong makipagpatayan sa kapwa Pilipino? Kapag may namamatay na sundalo kawawa ‘yung pamilya. Kapag may namamatay naman na rebelde kawawa din ‘yung pamilya (As much as possible, we should talk, or discuss things, not resort to killing. No Filipino would want to kill a fellowmen. If one soldier dies, we pity the family. If a rebel dies, we also commiserate with their family),” Go said.

Fellow administration ally, Sen. Ronald “Bato” Dela Rosa earlier expressed his frustration over Senate finance committee’s decision to slash the budget of the NTF-ELCAC.

However, Senate Minority Leader Franklin Drilon stressed the need to slash the anti-insurgency task force’s budget and realign the funds to COVID-19 response related programs.

Drilon also backed Sen. Sonny Angara’s position that reducing the budget of the NTF-ELCAC is necessary as it failed to liqudate its expenses for this year properly. Angara is chair of the Senate finance panel.